Bruno Itan
A photographer who observed the results of a massive law enforcement action in Rio de Janeiro has described how community members brought back mutilated bodies of those who had died.
The victims "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", Bruno Itan described. Among them were security forces.
A particular victim was found without a head - additional victims were "totally disfigured", he said. Numerous victims displayed what appeared to be knife injuries.
More than 120 people were killed during Tuesday's raid on a criminal gang - the most lethal operation in the city.
Bruno Itan explained that he was first alerted to the raid Tuesday morning by community members living in Alemão, who sent him messages informing him an armed confrontation was occurring.
The photographer traveled to the healthcare center, where the bodies were arriving.
The photographer stated that the police blocked media personnel from accessing the Penha neighborhood, where the operation was under way.
"Security forces established a perimeter and said: 'Journalists doesn't get past here'."
However, the photographer, who spent his childhood in the area, reported he managed to gain access past the security perimeter, where he remained until dawn.
He reported during the night, community members began to search the elevated terrain that borders the Penha neighborhood from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for loved ones whose whereabouts were unknown after the operation.
Community members of the Penha neighbourhood proceeded to place the discovered victims in an open area - the photographer's images display the reaction of those present.
"The harsh reality of the situation shook me a lot: the sorrow of the families, women collapsing, women carrying children, crying, furious relatives," the reporter recounted.
Bruno Itan
The official of the region declared that the extensive law enforcement effort with approximately 2,500 officers was designed to halting an illegal organization known as Comando Vermelho from growing their influence.
Originally, local officials claimed that sixty individuals along with four officers" had been killed in the raid.
They have since said that early calculations suggests that 117 individuals have been killed.
Rio's public defender's office, which provides legal assistance to the poor, has put the final tally of fatalities at 132.
Per investigative findings, Red Command stands as the sole illegal faction that recently has managed to expand its territory throughout Rio state.
Experts commonly view among the biggest criminal organizations in Brazil, together with another major gang, with a background spanning over five decades.
Per reporter a specialist, with extensive experience documenting crime in Rio for years, the criminal organization "functions as a network" with neighborhood bosses affiliating with the group and acting as "business partners".
The gang engages primarily in drug trafficking, additionally trafficking firearms, precious metals, energy resources, beverages smoking products.
Per law enforcement statements, criminal affiliates are well armed and officials reported that during the raid, they encountered resistance via weaponized unmanned aircraft.
The state leader of the state, the political leader, labeled gang affiliates as "narcoterrorists" and called the four police officers killed in the raid as "heroes".
But the number of casualties during the raid has come in for criticism from UN human rights officials expressing they felt "shocked".
During a press briefing on Wednesday, Governor Castro defended the police force.
"There was no objective to cause fatalities. We intended to take suspects into custody without harm," he said.
He further explained that the situation worsened due to the alleged criminals had retaliated: "It resulted of the resistance they executed and the disproportionate use of force by the illegal group."
The state leader additionally stated that the bodies shown by residents in the area had been "tampered with".
In a post through digital channels, he claimed that certain victims had been stripped of the camouflage clothing which he claimed they wore "to transfer accusation to security forces".
A police official of Rio's civil police force additionally stated that military attire, vests, and weapons" had been removed from the bodies and showed footage appearing to show a man stripping military attire {off a corpse
